Life is full of ironies. One day, you could find yourself working at a company that helps other job seekers find their dream jobs; the next, you could join the ranks of users because you got laid off, too. This is the fate of some staff at Indeed, as the company just announced plans to lay off about 8%, about 1000 people, of its workforce. This comes mere months after the employment company dismissed 15% of its staff. This strategic move is part of the company’s commitment to adapt to the changing market conditions and ensure its long-term sustainability. 

The layoff plan was shared this week with Indeed workers via a letter written by the CEO, Chris Hyams, and it cited their need to reorganize and restructure the major reasons they were sending a thousand workers packing. While cruel, Hyams has hopes that the layoffs will push the company forward, allowing it to stay ahead of the turbulent market conditions. 

The company CEO’s letter also included those affected by the layoffs on the horizon. To be fair, they ensured the dismissals affected various groups and positions within the company, but the “R&D and some Go-to-Market teams” took more gutting than the other teams. The letter also confirms that dismissals will happen in different regions, with the US region feeling the bulk of it. 

California has always had its own fair share of issues, but unemployment has now joined the circus. In the Bay Area alone, many jobless adults have been created in the past couple of months thanks to tech companies restructuring to implement AI and other new developments into their business models. These moves are proactive and will probably give the company’s pockets a world of good, but they also led to many dismissals. Indeed’s upcoming layoff plan will affect 87 workers at its Bay Area office. 

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According to Hyams’ letter, the sales and CS groups in Foster City, California, will be hit hard by the upcoming dismissals. In fact, the CEO says the teams under them will be totally eliminated, making it the hardest hit among the company’s offices in California.  

The percentage of workers Indeed says it plans to let go in the coming days is about half the total percentage the company reduced its workforce by last year around this same time. Their reason last year was that those workers had to go because there simply were more hiring freezes happening following the pandemic, as many of these businesses now feel they may have over-hired back then. 

Another reason Indeed laid off more people last year than this year was that back then, they were trying to save as much as they could as a company. According to Hyams, this new upcoming set of dismissals is happening for a different reason. The employment company emphasized the need to simplify the organization and streamline the chain of command to allow them to make decisions effectively that will aid growth and sustain revenue.

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To ensure the dismissals were well-spread and fair, Indeed went the extra mile, working closely with the HR, Legal, and DEIB+ teams to stay objective while they decided who would go and who would stay. Working as they did with those teams means the final result is unbiased toward any minority group or persons in the country. 

Hyam’s letter also saw him take responsibility for making the tough decision to let so many go just months after laying off 15% of its workers the previous year. He is well aware of what this means for those affected, but the importance of what they are trying to do takes precedence. 

Those affected by the recent batch of dismissals will have been notified of their fate by now. They have just lost their jobs abruptly, but the company, in its magnanimity, also made severance packages available to every affected person. According to Hyams, there is little doubt that the severance bounties will be insufficient, as their values have increased over the past year to better serve those unfortunate enough to be affected. 

Those left behind after this new round of layoffs at Indeed will have a meeting to connect with their employers and help them understand the company’s new organizational chart. They are left to wonder if there will be more layoffs in the future as it seems the company is struggling to sustain profitability in a world devoid of COVID-19.

ALSO READ: US Schools Brace Up for Teacher Layoffs as Pandemic Relief Funds Dry Up

Indeed is merely one of the latest companies to use layoffs as a restructuring method; many other much bigger companies have done so earlier. Good examples include Tesla, Salesforce, and Microsoft. 

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